Air-craft.



J. B. LAINGOR'& Gr J. YERGER.

' AIR SHAFT. APPiLIOATION FILED 13.14, 1910.

4 SHEETSSHEET 1.

' FIG. I

Patented Mar. 26, 1912.

J. B. LAINGOR & G. J. YERGER.

AIR CRAFT. APPLICATION FILED 1313.14, 1910.

1 ,02 1 1 ()5 Patented Mar. 26, 1912.

, 4 SHEETS SHEET 3.

FIG. E

11., my 10125- JIB. Lainyav;

G. Ii 67:98?)

J. B LAINGOR 1 G. J. YERGER.

AIR CRAFT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.14, 1910.

1,021,105. Patented Mar. 26, 1912,

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

WITNESBES: INVENTOR BY w MJWMW 2% i .To all w/win z'tmay concern:

UN TE ST TE AT NT O E QE mssn n. *mmeon AND causes .1. genera; or-m ILApplieatlcn fled l'ebruary Be it known that we, JESSE B.' Lamoon andGnoncn J Ynncnn, citizens of the United I '.bags are shown in elevation.

States, residing. at {Kansas} City, in the county ofJackson and State ofltlissou'rr,

have invented certain new and useful Img provements in Air-Craft; and wedo declare the following to :-be a. full, clea'r,"a1id exact descriptionof "the intention, suchas will enable others-skilled injthe area)" whichap'pertains ,to make'and'use the same, reference bing had,to ,the aceo n'aanying draw ng w he let er df s re (9 ence marked ther n, which form.a i

to provide means whereby the" increasing tension upon the gas bags;during thelc'raft s n m ib i e by-p m e apn- Ition offthe astoipassginto anempty bag'or bagslinsteadfof "wasting to atmosphere; "to

provide'al ltomatic means whereby in event of the rupture of any? of the gas bags, the

' gas-.w'ill'befretairied within an of the other on e line I.III of Fig.I, showing infull gas bags; to provide 'a pair ofjmotors', to-

gether with 'means by; which either motor when disabled'may be c'utfout/and the .other motor. connected to the :,-propeller drlvlngmechanism-withoutlos's of time}, and to'provide the improved details ctconstruction 'hereinafter described, and show'hin the ac- 40companyingdrawings, in which:

, lgure 1 is a slde elevation of an air craft constructed. accordi ,toour invention, a portion-pf the. wall .0 It brokento'ut to expose themechanism. F1g..

e engineroom' being II isan enlargedvertical section-viewed lines one ofthe parachute'wings'in extended position. Fig; III is an enlargedsectional Y V is a central vertical longitudinal smtion- Fig. VI is.

sas cIrY, mrssonnn l v V i T I dia 'ram showing in plan-the arrangementPatented l mit 2 11912..

of the gas bags in the upper tier. Fig. VIII .is'a detail view. InFigsl'II and'Y, the gas 1 Referring more in detail to the parts Between.the upper "and lower sect1ons'A,'B,"

the frame of thee-raft is constructed to pro-- vide an uppengascontaining section A, a lowergas'contammg sectlongB, and a de'-'extending the full length 'of the craft, is-

ert-ical members" 3fand longitudinal and the ,transv'rse'nrembers 2;Both the up- ,rin air pas'sagefD, of ample capacity to permit theh-ir'to pass from front to rear o f'the 'T a I craft {when the craftisfin forward motion; 'Ihe't6D,6f the top framesection comprises ;loiigitudinal members 1 and transverse mem- 2, andjthe-sides of saidsehtion-com zn'l'einbers 4. The j lower frame" section B, comprises theupper and lower, longitudinal ,,meinber's"' I; and4", the verticalmembers 3'-",-'

pergandllower sections are lined with wires ,6.'

'1 whichfarb .shbwn. as paralleland spa'ced at the: greatest practicaldistance 11' art ;--their function beinglto restr ain the sqdes ofthegas bags 7." v

" The gas bags ma made of anv suitable material, and-are preferably,rectangular "inform so as to fill-completely their respective portionsof the holding frames, and are arranged side by side and-in two rows, ineach frame section A and B, as shown by Figs; II and 'VII. :The two rowsof gas bagstin .theflowerframe section are spaced, above the'engineroom'C, as shown Ian, viewed on the Iin'e-III III' of Fig 1 1g.

in Fig. II, thus providing-"a large open space between said rows,through which the operators may have access to the propeller shaftbearings, the rudders, lthe'upperjgas valves, and the upper gearings,all of which will be presently described; For supplyin tubes 8,(preferably flexible), each having jac'ent gas bags,"and having at oneend an 'ope11 1 coupling 10 for connection with the anyba'gindependentlyof the ofliers. 12 designates reserve 'bags' whiefiare notto be filled initially, but are leftempty'until the craft reachesan"elevation' at which the bags with gas thereare two? (or more valvedconnection 9 with the respective ada 'gas reservoir (no shown); B j thevalves 9, gas may be admitted to and out et! from some gas must bereleased from the bags 7 to prevent bursting thereof. To this end,.

the rows of bags areinterconnected as at 13 in Fig. VII, and the endmostbags 7 are connected byhose 14 with the reserve. bags 12. In each tube14 is a valve 15, which is preferably self closing and is operable-by acord 16, that extends into the engine room -C. Each connection 13 isprovided with a double disk valve 17'-'17, Fig. VL'havinga connectingstem '18, thevalves being adapted to close upon either of two valveseatsflQ-but' being normally retainedin' vertical position bythe equalpressures the bags with whichithevalve-is connected. v The stem 18 isheld slidably Within the guide websor'cross-pieces 20, in or aroundwhich are apertures 21 for the passage of gas between the bags 7, whichare connected bythetube13.

' When it is lieve thejgas bags'7, an operator pulls the cords 16and-opens the valves 15, whereupon gas-will rush into the-empty'bags" 12and willrelieve all the bags 7 equally, owing to the connections 13.therebetween. 'Should any b age .7 cuthor torn when full, or burst yexcessive '.pressure, the valves 17*18 in the tubes 13'connected withsuch -'bag.will be closed by the unbalanced res sures upon the valve,disks 18, as one t ere of ,will' be practically exposed' to atmosphere'while the other will receive the prep-- 1 sure of the gas in theadjoining bag .7.

' in contributing to the. safety of the of" ft, will be-obvious, withoutexplanation. he.

. he great'advantage of the mul of gas bags over one or two very largebags;

storage of expandedgas is also amanifest; advantage, as .heretofore, allgas permitted to escape from the-container has-been" lost.

There are two propellers, 22, at the stern of the. craft1an'd in directalineinent with the-aforesaid air passage DJ. The propeller shafts 23are shown as driven by bevel gears 24 from transverse shafts 25, whichare driven bybevel gears 26 from a vertical shaft 27 which extends downinto. the-engine room." 28 designates the bearingsfof'said shafts. At'oposite sides of the shaft 27 are two dup icate motors or engines '29,

each having a horizontal shaft 30. Each shaft 30 carries a clutch.member'31. A

shaft 32 in line with shafts '30 extends through the pillar bearing 28,and has keyed- 'thcreon a bevel gear 3 3 that meshes with.

a gear' 34; on the vertlcal'shaft 27; ,The

shaft 32 is provided with two clutch Iiiembers 35, adapted to coactwiththe opposed clutch members 31. By opening or closing said clutches31-35, an operator may dis- .connect either motor, from gear with shaft27, or may disconnect. both motors at the same/time. Hence, should one.motor break down or stop running, the same can be indesirable ornecessary to re-.

tiplici ty stantly thrown out -of gear and the other thrown in gear, andthis may be dQne withdown before the second CllllCll'JS thrown in.

of spur earing if preferred and the propelleis 23 may two bladed,a'ndmay be much larger than-shown,

fright-and left areloca ted at the rear, and

as at37. Theyare connected by one or more rods; 38, having at 39 andholding the ru ders inparallel relation. Secured to each rudder is alatereach arm 40 isa cord or wire 41; said cords 'or wires passing'forivardli hanger 42-providcd'with-pu1 eye over which said cords 'pass,downwardly, to 'airotary' wound. v

44 is a hand wheel on ashaftdfi', which is geared by. worm gearing '46to thefllshaft of drum; 43. ,Whcnthef'handiwheclfiH is 52, on 'whic'hthey said drum'lbeing jadapted for rotation by a wheel 53 through theshaft 54'; and'fworm pivotal points'.5.6 b ,alrod 57 which ;ho'lds themin paraIlePre lation; operation is, thefisame as main rudders 36L 1 Theen' 'neand passenger roomC is rodescribed of the rooni be preferably,left epen, in order to reduce t e air iesistance; The corners of members4f forez-and aft oi 'said' ro'om, by

"the first named ob'ect of the invention, we provide at each si e of thecraft a wing 65,

1, and hangs against the upper frame, as shown in dotted lines, when t ecraft is ascending, or slowl descending. The lower edge of the wing 15stifiened by a longitudi? The rudders 36 for directing the craft to;

are hinged ,to the frame members 1, 4, 1f.

pivotal connections i turned, one cord or wire-41"w ill;l' bedrawn.toward the amine while'the'othercord on ,rvire will'be paid out,theineoming cord -or he room. G. are connected with the frame.

madeof any suitable flexible material, which is strongly secured to thetop frame member out waiting for the propellers to come to a stop. -Theyshould, however be slowed Friction'geuring may be employed instead.-

ally projecting arm 40,-nnd connected to p to a pulley drum 43,- on',which they, nre' oppositely throughT-Ithe medium-of. the connecting rodI madam e v are pivotal y'yconnected to .the'

ers;,areprovided pulley 5 1,};ahd downwardly to' a rotarydrum areoppositely. wound;

gem- 554 .The .rudders47 "are connected at Their mode-of videdwithj sidewindows 60, tho, ends 0 the 'tensionedwire braces, 63. In pursuance ofnal strip 65. Secured to the lower frame members 1 and 4 are lugs orsocket pieces 66, which are arranged to support vertical rods 67.Connected with the Wing strip 65 are a series of de ending stay-rods 68,whose lower ends are Formed into eyes 69 which loosely embrace thevertical rods 67; When the wing is fully distended the eyes 69 will bearagainst the upper socket pieces 66, and when the craft rises the Wingand its stay-rods 68 will descend. y

The above description applies'to the wing apparatus at each side of thecraft, and designated by like numerals. These wing devices operate asautomatic parachutes, whenever the car falls at a speed exceeding acertain rate, thereby preventing damage to the craft by striking anysolid body at high speed downwardly. lVhen the craft is rising or movingforwardly, the wings will offer no added resistance to the air.

It will be noted that the frame of the craft is somewhat pointed, asseen in side elevation, in order to lessen the crai'ts resistance to theair. Preferably the lower part 77 of the stern frame is upwardly andrcarwardly inclined,

Having? thus described our invention,

What we claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letter-Patent In anair craft, a pair of: frames, one superposed above the other and. spacedtherefrom to provide an air passage there between, gas bags containedwithin s: id frames, a cage suspended from the lower frame, the portionof said lower frame above said cage being open to provide for thepassage of shaiting and operating ropes tl' erethrough, a horizontalrudder located at one. end of the craft and extending on each sidethereof, a vertical rudder located at the opposite end of the craft andextending above said. upper frame, controlling); ropes connected withrudders and extending to said cage, propellers located at one end. ofthe craft, a motor carried in said cage and transmission mechanismconnecting said propellers with said motors.

In. testimony whereof we atlix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

il l'yn'rnn M. Jackson, K. M. lMnonnu.

